Chapter Two: Camping With Bird-men
Finally, night had fallen. Kiht had taken the opportunity to rest, but there was no sleeping. Aside from the fact that she was nocturnal, she felt far too tense to sleep. She checked and secured her gear then made her way to the point where she had surveyed the Ixal camp. Once again, she peered over the lone, dead bush. The Ixal were obviously not nocturnal. Their camp at night was very different from their camp that day.
The raging bonfires had been extinguished, and there was nothing but various lit torches distributed throughout the campgrounds. A camp that was once nearly crowded with Ixal was now almost completely silent. The watch wolves slept near their posts as the Ixal guards made slow, weary patrols. The tents and huts were closed. Kiht would find no better time to infiltrate the camp.
From her position atop a rock formation that stretched out and created a long rock wall only a few yards from the camp wall, she could see nearly the whole settlement. It was very large, but completely walled with only a couple of gates that were shut tight. Her only way in would be risky because she would need to jump from her position over the wooden wall. It was not impossible; it did not require Dragoon jumping powers, or anything of the sort. But, landing on the other side safely and quietly was the challenge.
After extensively surveying the camp, she had found what was one of the Ixal supply tents. Through careful observation, she had seen that it was not a tent that would likely have sleeping Ixal in it. It was a big risk for her to hope that the material would hold up under the force of her jumping onto it, but desperate times required desperate actions.
Once Kiht was in the right spot, she took a few paces back, and prepared her body for a long leap. She bolted then sprang from the ledge of the formation that was just as high as the Ixal camp's wooden wall. She soared right over the wall then landed firmly on the tent next to it with an abrupt thud onto the leathery material. Her body went stiff as she landed, and she heard the sounds of tearing. However, the tent top held. She heard no Ixal or wolves reacting to the noise, but she quickly shuffled and slid her way off of the tent onto the snow-covered ground below.
However, Kiht would not be as lucky as she had first assumed. She was in between two large tents. When she looked out from her position into the rest of the campgrounds, she saw the movement of a shadow that appeared right in front of the space between the tents. She quickly rounded the tent; taking position between the tent and the wall. It was a tight fit, but that was where being relatively small paid off.
She waited quietly, and it wasn't long before she heard the sounds of footsteps on the snow-covered ground. She heard a low, quiet muttering that was either a grumble of gibberish, or a silent sentence in the Ixal language. Regardless, she heard the footsteps stop then there was a shift. Once again, more footsteps, but it sounded like they were moving away. After a few moments, Kiht heard nothing. The Ixal had left. There was no glow of light, so the guard was likely not holding a torch. Between the tents it was too dark for him to see the footprints she had left in the snow. The Fates had smiled upon her.
It took Kiht what felt like an hour of careful sneaking and surveying. She avoided going anywhere near the torches, and stayed behind tents and boxes whenever possible. The Ixal patrols did not bear torches. Rather, they relied on the torch posts set up throughout the camp. The watch wolves were in a deep slumber. They could obviously sleep through the sounds of the Ixal walking around the camp, so the noise Kiht made, which was even softer, did not wake them.
However, it would not be that easy for Kiht. Eventually, the gate to the other camp was in sight. Aside the fact that going through the gate would bring her into another camp, two sleeping watch wolves were tied to posts right next to the gate while two Ixal guards also stood next to it. Torch posts burned brightly at their sides. It would be impossible for her to sneak past that.
Kiht began thinking carefully. Her options seemed nonexistent. The way the camp was built meant that there was no way around it; not unless she wanted to backtrack into the barren canyon maze where she had come from, and try to find another way back to the Central Highlands. Yet, the only way through the camp was through the heavily guarded gate that the Ixal guarded every moment.
Kiht was not left to her thoughts for long. When the sounds of chanting caught her attention, her ears perked up as she began surveying the camp anew. Curiosity burned inside her mind. There was little else she could do at the moment, so she made her way towards the chanting.
Eventually, she found the source of the chanting. In an open part of the camp that she had previously not seen from her position atop the rock formation, was a shallow pit with wooden stumps assorted in an organized semi-circle. They were mostly vacant, but three Ixal sat in the first of three rows. In front of the semi-circle was a massive pile of wind crystals. Standing on the opposite side from the semi- circle rows of seating, was a highly decorated Ixal with an ornately designed short spear held in one hand. This Ixal seemed a bit smaller than the three that were sitting. It was certainly not a child, but its build seems more slight. An almost uncountable number of trinkets and jewelry adorned the Ixal that chanted and moved its arms about as if to display greater meaning to its chanting.
Kiht knew that Ixal were matriarchal. This shaman or chief was likely a female Ixal. Kiht found it strange that they were doing some kind of ritual in the middle of the night. However, she assumed they were not actually trying to summon yet. It would make more sense for more Ixal to be in audience when they were ready to summon Garuda.
Kiht's curiosity had been sated. She turned around, and began to quietly make her way to find an exit to the camp. Suddenly, a blaring roar echoed in the skies. She was startled; her body shook abruptly, but she quickly regained her composure. However, watch wolves began to stir. Some of them awoke, but seemed very drowsy. She could hear the muttering of some Ixal within the tents, but quiet quickly returned to the camp as no signs of whatever created the roar was present. At that time, Kiht had recognized the roar as something a dragon would make, but nothing appeared.
It was then that she suddenly began to formulate an insane idea. The Ixal camp was mostly wood, cloth and leather. Two of those materials were very vulnerable to fire. It was very cold, but there was no rain or snowfall. The air was very dry, and that meant that the materials within the camp would likely be dry as well. Getting out of the camp would not be as easy as getting in, so she began entertaining the possibility of burning her way out...
